Local input needed to ensure NEET solution

THERE is a quiet crisis affecting towns like ours, and it does not get nearly enough attention.

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Across the country, close to a million young people are not in education, employment or training.

That number has risen sharply in recent years, and in places like Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove we feel the impact more than most.

For me, this is not just a statistic. It is personal. Before I was elected to Parliament, I spent much of my working life helping young people and families into work, often those who had been written off.

I began in our local Sure Start centres, supporting young families and helping parents, particularly young mums, build the confidence and skills to take their first steps into employment.

Later, at the YMCA, I set up and ran employment programmes with a clear purpose: to help young people back into work, training or education.